(1)Halting of stage carriages. - No stage carriage shall be halted in an urban area for more than five minutes consecutively for taking up or getting down of passengers or at any time during the course of a run except at a stand.(2)Bus Stop. - (i) The District Magistrate may direct that in any street or any road in an urban area notified by him in this behalf (the notification being made by public proclamation or in such a manner as the District Magistrate may deem fit), no stage carriage shall take up or get down passenger except at a place appointed by him at a bus stop or at a stand.(ii)No stage carriage shall be halted at a bus stop for longer than it is necessary to take up such passengers as are waiting when the vehicle arrives, and to get down such passengers as wish to alight.(3)Every stage carriage trip to be begun and ended at stand. - (a) In the run of/any stage carriage starts or finished in an urban area shall, unless the District magistrate specially exempts the vehicle from the provisions of this rule, be begun or ended from a stand.(b)Where a stage carriage is exempted from the provisions of the preceding sub-rule it shall be condition of the exemption that no passengers shall be taken up or get down, as the case may be at any point within a distance of two hundred yards or such other distance as may be named in the order of exemption fro the place where the stage carriage is garaged or parked at the start or finish of the run.(c)In exempting a sage carriage from the provisions of clause (i) of this sub-rule the District Magistrate may make it a condition that the first passengers be taken up, or the last passenger be set down at a particular bus stop fixed for the purpose in the order of exemption.(d)An order of exemption made under clause (i) of this sub-rule shall remain in force for one year or such lesser period as the District Magistrate may direct and may be cancelled or modified by him at his discretion at any time.(4)Stage carriages to be properly marked when not in use. - The State Transport Authority may attach to a stage carriage permit a condition that when the vehicle is not in use it shall not be halted in any public place except at a stand or at a parking place appointed by a competent authority under the Act.Preceding rules are not applicable to contract carriages.Nothing in the sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (3) or in any direction made under sub-rule (20 shall apply to a stage carriage when it is being used under due authority as a contract shall apply to a stage carriage when it is being used under due authority as a contract carriage or as vehicle for the carriage of goods without passengers, provided that a board has been affixed to the vehicle bearing the inscription " On Contract" or Carrying goods only" (as the case may be) and provided particulars of the hiring have been entered in the log book of the vehicle.(5)Halting of Contract carriages. - The State Transport Authority may impose, on the use of any contract carriage, or any stage carriage when the same is being used as a contract carriage, a condition that the vehicle shall not be halted in any public place in an urban area save at a parking or (in the case of motor cab) a rank duly appointed under section 117 of the Act as a stand.(6)Responsibilities of driver, conductor and permit holder for securing compliance with these rules. - In so far as any rule in this Chapter, or any order issued in conformity therewith, directs that a transport vehicle shall or shall not be halted in a certain place or in a certain manner, the rule shall be read as if it included provisions enjoining the driver and in the case of a stage carriage the conductor to ensure that it is so halted or not halted, and requiring the holder of any permit issued in respect of the vehicle to take all measures open to him to secure compliance with the direction.(7)Involuntary halts. - No person shall be liable to be punished for halting a vehicle in contravention of any of these rules if the stopping of the vehicle was occasioned by a mechanical defect or by any other cause beyond the control of the driver or person in charge:Provided that the driver or other person in charge shall continue to be liable for contravening section 122 of the Act unless all practicable steps have been taken to dispose of the vehicle in such a way that it shall not cause danger, obstruction or inconvenience to other users of the road.
